Believed to be indigenous from Vanuatu to Fiji,
Tonga, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, and possibly Samoa; probably an
aboriginal introduction into some of these islands and to eastern
Polynesia; a recent introduction into Hawaii, Micronesia, and
most atoll countries (endemic species of Gardenia, some of
which are found in agroforestry systems, exist in many island
groups). A shrub or small gnarled tree, up to 6 m high, with
shiny, bright green, obovate leaves; attractive, very fragrant,
pure white, tubular, spreading 5- to 8-petalled, solitary
flowers; and globose, ribbed, yellow-green fruits. Occasional to
common in home gardens and villages, sometimes planted as hedges,
especially in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Hawaii;
apparently naturalized in some areas such as Hawaii; rare to
uncommon on sea cliffs and rocky islets, almost always on
limestone. Widely planted ornamental that is cultivated
commercially in Tahiti and Hawaii; planted near graves of chiefs
in Tuvalu; national flower of the Cook Islands and Tahiti;
features in legends and songs in Polynesia and Micronesia; used
in love magic and sorcery in Tuvalu; wood carved into bows and
cricket balls in Tuvalu, and netting needles and gauges in
Tokelau; fragrant white flowers used in leis and garlands and
worn in slits in and behind the ear, and in the hair; flowers and
fruit used for scenting coconut oil, which is produced
commercially in Tahiti and Rarotonga; leis and head garlands sold
and exported from Tahiti and Hawaii; used medicinally in
Melanesia and Polynesia; selected cultivars with large
leaves and flowers recognized in Polynesia.

45. Garugafloribunda Decne.
BURSERACEAE
syn. G. pacifica Burkill

Indigenous from the Philippines, Java, and
Melanesia to Tonga and Samoa; not reported present in Fiji;
possibly an aboriginal introduction from Melanesia to Tonga and
Samoa. Medium tree up to 3 m or higher, with leaves commonly with
a flush of red somewhere in the crown, crowded near the ends of
branches; small flowers in particulate clusters; and small,
subglobose, fleshy, green fruits that turn black at maturity.
Common in lowland forest and in open or disturbed forest, often
in drier sites; occasional in and near garden areas, as living
fencing around plantations, and as a protected species near
settlements. Planted as living fencing Or boundary markers in
Vanuatu and Tonga; timber used in general construction, for
fencing, and firewood; bark used medicinally; fruit edible.

Indigenous to Central America and northern
South America; a recent introduction into the Pacific Islands.
Small, semi-deciduous, fast-growing tree, up to 10 m tall, with
pale bark and ascending stems; pinnately compound leaves; stiff,
short racemes on the older branches bearing rose or paler pink,
rose-tinged flowers with a pale yellow, central blotch; and
linear-oblong, flattened pods containing purplish brown seeds.
Occasional to common in rural areas as living fencing, mainly
around pastures; occasional in home gardens and as a roadside
tree; seems to grow well on calcareous soils of atolls. Widely
used in tropical America and elsewhere as a shade tree for cocoa,
bananas, and coffee; an increasingly important living fence and
windbreak in Fiji and Vanuatu; valuable nitrogen-fixing and green
manure plant; occasional as an ornamental tree in home gardens
and along roadsides; used as firewood; leaves used as fodder for
pigs, goats, and cattle.

Indigenous from tropical Asia to the Marquesas,
Tuamotus (Makatea) and Henderson Island in eastern Polynesia, and
to the Marianas and Caroline Islands in Micronesia; the genus is
extremely variable, with endemic species represendng it on many
islands. Small to medium-sized trees, up to 12 m or taller, with
2-ranked, elliptic leaves; small, pedicellate, yellow or orange
to yellowish green flowers in axillary fascicles; and grooved,
depressed-oblate fruit. Common in open or secondary forest,
thickets, grasslands, and fallow vegetation; occasional in garden
areas and grazing areas, often volunteering in fallow vegetation;
commonly protected when clearing for new gardens; occasional in
home gardens. Durable wood used in light construction, in tool
making, and for firewood; leaves and bark used medicinally
throughout the Pacific; red dye made from the bark in New Guinea.

48. Gnetumgnemon L. GNETACEAE
"gnetum," "joint fir"

Indigenous from Assam in India through southern
Asia and Malesia to the Caroline Islands and Fiji; possibly a
naturalized aboriginal introduction into some islands or the
result of a selection process from wild varieties. Small to
medium, deep-rooted, shade-tolerant tree, up to 15 m high, with
broadly elliptic-lanceolate leaves; and ellipsoid fruits that
turn orange-red at maturity. Occasional in lowland, ridge, and
mature fallow forest; cultivated in or near gardens and in home
gardens in the Solomon Islands; common in planted Artocarpus-Pandanus
tree groves in highland New Guinea. Tree serves as a support for
yams and other shade-tolerant climbers; wood used for house
beams; best fibre used to provide cordage for fishing nets and
line, and string bags; fruits, flowers, and young leaves eaten in
a variety of ways; cooked, dried fruit often stored in the
Solomon Islands; leaf sap used medicinally.

49. Guettardaspeciosa L.
RUBIACEAE
"guettarda"

Indigenous from eastern Africa and tropical
Asia to the Marshall Islands and southeastern Polynesia, but not
to Hawaii. Small to medium-sized tree, up to 20 m high, with
large, obovate leaves, and fragrant, long, tubular, white flowers
born in cymose clusters; and hard, yellowgreen, ovoid fruits that
turn black at maturity. Common to infrequent in coastal strand
forest, thickets, and open vegetation on rocky and sandy shores;
common in regrowth in older stripmined areas on Nauru; common in
coconut plantations and garden areas in Kiribati and on other
atolls; common to occa signal in home gardens on atolls.
Important in Kiribati and Tuvaluan legends and mythology;
national flower of the Marshall Islands; names of the leaf and
the plant associated with phases of the moon and stations of the
sun in Kiribati; hard and durable wood used in light
construction, for pilings, fish-trap stakes, stakes to hold
garden mulch in place, coconut huskers, fishing poles, floats,
spears, thatching needles, fishing rods, fishnet and bird-net
handles, stilts, eel traps, fruitharvesting sticks, bowls,
slit-gongs, for canoe hulls, supports, steering paddles, bailers,
poles for poling canoes, and floats; the most desired wood for
tape-beating anvils in Tonga; wood used in games in Fiji; used
for firewood and for making fire by friction; leaves used in
fires for drying pandanus leaves and for toilet paper in Tokelau;
dead wood used to smoke skirts in Tuvalu; bark, leaves, flowers,
and fruit used medicinally; leaf litter considered the most
important component and source of black topsoil, which is mixed
with compost for the cultivation of giant swamp taro, pandanus,
and other crops in Kiribati; leaves, either alone or with other
leaves, provide one of the most important composts in Kiribati
and Tuvalu; all pastes or preserves spread on Cuettarda leaves
for sun drying in Kiribati; leaves used to cover earthen oven and
as disposable plates in Micronesia; leaves provide a jet-black
hair dye in Kiribati; leaves used as a baby's wash cloth in
Ulithi; leaves used for pig feed in Tokelau; leaves used in head
garlands and worn in ear slits in Tuvalu; flowers used in
garlands and for scenting coconut oil; flowers and young leaves
soaked in water to provide deodorant or aphrodisiac in Kiribati;
parts used as love charms in Ulithi.

Considered indigenous to the Palaeotropics and
the western Pacific as far east as Fiji and Samoa, but possibly a
naturalized aboriginal introduction in some areas and to Tonga;
not reported in Micronesia. Erect, coarse, rhizomatous herb,
superficially resembling a banana, up to 2 m or taller, with a
pseudostem comprised of tightly rolled leaf sheaths; oblong
leaves up to 2-3 m long; flowers with overlapping, scarlet and
yellow or greenish bracts; and yellow fruits. Common in dense
forests, secondary forests, fallow, and garden areas from New
Guinea to Samoa and Tonga; occasionally cultivated or protected,
in rural and home gardens. Leaves used as thatch for temporary
shelter, umbrellas, make-shift sleeping mats, to cover earthen
ovens, to wrap food for cooking, especially starchy puddings and
the staple "laplap" in Vanuatu (where it is referred to
as "laplap leaf"); fibre from petiole and midrib
processed into tauanga and used to strain coconut oil in Samoa;
flowers cooked as a famine food in Fiji; pseudostems and heated
leaves used medicinally.

Indigenous to South-East Asia; an aboriginal
introduction to Melanesia and possibly to Tonga from Fiji;
probably a recent introduction into other areas of Polynesia and
Micronesia. Erect, perennial shrub, 1-5 m high, with slightly
fleshy, variably-shaped, entire to deeply lobed or laciniate,
bright green to red-green or purplish leaves; yellow,
hibiscus-like flowers with dark purple centres; and a beaked,
oblong, dehiscent capsule containing numerous pubescent seeds.
Common to abundant in both rural and urban food gardens; common
in home gardens. A wide range of cultivars planted as an
intercrop and uncommonly as a monocrop in small plots as a
supplementary food crop; nutritious slippery green leaves and
young shoots cooked as one of the major leafy green vegetables
throughout Melanesia and in Tonga; an important cash crop sold at
local produce markets; recently promoted as a nutritious
vegetable in Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the
Federated States of Micronesia; leaves also used medicinally to
cure coughs, sore throats, dysentery, and stomach aches; cordage
for dancing skirts made from stems in Yap.

52. Hibiscusrosa-sinensis L.
MALVACEAE
"hibiscus," "red hibiscus"

Origin uncertain, but probably indigenous to
eastern Africa or southern Asia; probably an aboriginal or very
early post-European-contact introduction to Melanesia and parts
of Polynesia; a pre-World War 11 introduction into most of the
other islands of Polynesia and Micronesia. Shrub to small tree,
up to 4 m high, with glabrous, dark green to variegated, serrate
leaves; and conspicuous 5-petalled, red, pink, white, or yellow
flowers. Occasional in rural areas and common to abundant in
urban areas as an ornamental and hedge or living fence plant.
Planted ornamental; flowers used in garlands and for decoration;
leaves fed to goats.

Pantropical and subtropical and indigenous to
the Pacific Islands; possibly an aboriginal introduction to some
areas. Spreading, often scrambling tree, 3-10 m high, with
cordate, gray-green leaves; attractive, few-flowered clusters of
yellow, 5petalled flowers that have a dark maroon to brown centre
and age to salmon-pink before falling; and 5-celled, dehiscent,
capsular fruits. Abundant in coastal and lowland thickets, along
the inner margins of mangroves, often along river banks, common
and often invasive in disturbed and open forest and degraded
upland areas; common in garden areas, plantations, and fallow
areas, and often protected or only severely pruned when clearing
new garden plots; occasional to common in home gardens and around
villages; common in grazing lands. One of the most useful trees
in the Pacific; commonly planted as living fencing and animal
pens and in coastal areas, near houses, in gardens, and as an
ornamental or shade tree; a creeping variety planted as
wind-break in Hawaii; its presence in forested areas considered a
sign of former cultivation in Hawaii; features in eastern
Polynesian legends and Hawaiian fire-making legends; commoners
not allowed to cut branches without permission of chiefs in
Hawaii; branches borne in battle by priests as a good omen and
allowed to fall in retreat in Hawaii; born by attendants at
presentation of first fruits to kings on Easter Island; branches
used as tapu markers to delimit restricted areas in Hawaii; used
to make spears used in typhoon magic in Ulithi; soft wood used in
light construction and wood carving, for house rafters,
pig-tethering posts, for canoe outriggers, spreaders, bailers,
booms and occasionally hulls, fishing rods, hoists and floats,
fishnet frames and handles, bows, fruit-picking rods, tools and
tattooing comb handles, kite struts, jackstraw sticks, pestles,
breadfruit splitters, coconut huskers, net floats, spears,
shore-line posts to delineate fishing zones, fishing gear
containers, noddy bird net handles and frigate bird nesting
platforms (Nauru), and other purposes; a decent firewood,
especially for slow smoking; used in making fire by friction;
wood dried for six months used for fireworks in Hawaii; best
fibre used as canoe caulking and to make cordage for clothing and
dancing skirts and kilts, coconut-climbing bandages or foot
harnesses, mats, sandals, sewing tape, bark cloth paint brushes,
making fishnets, fishing line and lures, slings, kava strainers,
sandals, tying corpses in tape, and cordage for tying, lashing
and binding canoes, housing, and other things; bark used to
strain kava in Pohnpei to give it its preferred slimy
consistency; leaves, terminal buds, unopened flowers, and bark
used medicinally, with leaves being used to reduce hemorrhaging
and for treating neurological disorders; leaves used to parce]
food, especially seafood, as plates, and to line and cover the
earthen oven; leaves widely used as toilet paper; flowers used in
garlands in Hawaii; bark, shoots, and sapwood eaten in New
Caledonia and other parts of Melanesia; leaves occasionally added
to compost in Kiribati and Tuvalu; a number of distinct varieties
or cultivars recognized in Melanesia and Polynesia.

Indigenous to Malesia and considered indigenous
to the Pacific Islands as far east as the Society, Marquesas, and
Austral Islands, but possibly an aboriginal introduction into
some areas, such as Niue, where it is found mainly associated
with human activity; a recent introduction into Hawaii. A medium
to large, buttressed tree, up to 30 m high, with leathery, oblong
leaves; fragrant, yellowish white or pinkish flowers; and fleshy,
somewhat ovoid or kidney-shaped, yellowgreen fruit containing a
large, chestnut-like, edible kernel. Common in lowland forests,
particularly in poorly drained areas, inner margins of mangroves
and along streams; occasional in garden areas and protected when
clearing new gardens; occasional in towns and as a roadside and
path-side tree. Features in Polynesian mythology and is the
sacred tree of the people of Moce, Fiji, who are referred to as
Vuata Ivi (fruit of the ivi); to injure the tree in any way was
taboo on Moce and the first fruits were offered to priests;
traditional calendar associated with its fruiting in Lau, Fiji;
commonly planted or protected as boundary markers; wood used in
general construction and wood carving, for tool handles, kava
bowls, tape beaters, weapons, packing boxes, etc.; used for
firewood; bark a source of dye in Tahiti; leaves used for
indicating the value of pigs for ceremonial presentation in
Vanuatu; leaves, bark, and stems used medicinally; ripe seed,
which tastes like chestnut, eaten cooked as a seasonal staple and
preserved in the past in Polynesia and Melanesia; cooked seeds an
important seasonal cash crop; gum from fruit used for caulking
canoes in Uvea.

Indigenous from eastern Africa and Madagascar,
southern Asia, Taiwan, and Malesia to the Caroline Islands, Fiji,
Rotuma, and Samoa; possibly an aboriginal introduction from Fiji
to Tonga. Medium to large tree, up to 35 m high, with small but
tresses; compound leaves with 1-3 pairs of broadly ovate, but
asymmetric leaflets; pure white to pink flowers with a red claw
and red to purple stamens in dense terminal panicles; and thick,
leathery, oblong pods containing orbicular, black seeds.
Occasional in coastal and lowland forests and thickets and on
inner margins of mangroves; sometimes found inland and protected
in garden areas; occasionally planted in villages in Fiji.
Planted ornamental and sacred tree; one of the most sacred trees
in Fiji; durable, attractive, dark red-brown wood used in house
construction, for canoes and canoe masts, fencing, and furniture,
and most desired for wood carving, for food and kava bowls,
headrests, containers, tape beaters, combs, walking sticks, war
clubs, and a variety of other articles of inter-island trade
between Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji; used for firewood; roots and bark
used medicinally in Melanesia; seeds used for dancing anklets in
Samoa.

Indigenous from tropical Africa and Asia
through Malesia to the Caroline Islands and Samoa, Tonga, and the
Society Islands. Medium tree, up to 20 m high, with ovate to
cordate, palmately-nerved leaves; pink or rose-coloured flowers
in panicles; inflated, S-parted, papery, pink, capsular fruit
containing usually one globose white seed. Common in secondary
forest, clearings, and fallow areas, often forming groves; one of
the most common pioneer species in Melanesia and Samoa; often
felled or ringbarked when clearing new garden plots, but left
standing in some areas of Vanuatu. Chosen as worthy of inclusion
in hedgerowlalleycropping trials in the Solomon Islands; wood
used for light construction, canoe floats, floats for fishnets,
yam stakes; considered one of the best firewoods and favoured for
making fire by friction; strips of bark provide temporary cordage
for binding garden produce or firewood; leaves used to seal
earthen ovens, wrap food, and as tobacco wrappers; bark, shoots,
and leaves used medicinally; young leaves cooked as a vegetable.

Indigenous to tropical America; pre-World War I
introduction throughout most of the Pacific. Erect, slender shrub
or small tree, 1-5 m high, with dense wood; bipinnate leaves;
pale green to white, globose flowers in dense clusters; and
clustered, flat, dehiscent, dark brown pods containing flat,
glossy brown seeds. Common to very abundant in rural areas of
large islands, where it has become naturalized in extensive
stands; occasional as living fencing; occasionally deliberately
planted as fuelwood plantations or as shade in coffee
plantations; occasional in home gardens. Planted as shade for
coffee plantations and in fuelwood plantations surrounding urban
areas in Papua New Guinea; nitrogen-fixing ability well-known;
timber used in light construction, for fencing, and as a very
important source of firewood; firewood sold commercially in
Tonga; foliage and green pods an important fodder and green
manure; green pods and seeds occasionally eaten in some parts of
the Pacific; seeds used in necklaces and handicrafts. Improved,
fast-growing "giant" varieties from Hawaii inttoduced
into some areas. Heavily defoliated throughout the Pacific
Islands in the mid-1980s by psillid insect infestations, which,
due to poor recovery in Tonga, have threatened its status as one
of the best species for fuel-wood plantations.

Indigenous to tropical Africa, Madagascar,
tropical Asia, and throughout Malesia to northern Australia, the
Caroline and Gilbert Islands in Micronesia, and the Cook.
Society, and Austral Islands in eastern Polynesia; possibly an
aboriginal introduction into some areas, such as the Gilbert
Islands, and a recent introduction into some areas, such as the
Marshall Islands and Hawaii. Small to medium, monoecious or
dioecious, soft-wooded tree, up to 10-20 m high, with, large,
variable, but commonly peltate or ovate, leathery, distinctly
veined leaves; variable flowers that are sometimes reddish; and
small, dehiscent, capsular, often spiny fruits containing seeds
with a fleshy testa. Common in secondary forest, fallow
vegetation, and patches of forest in open country; one of the
main pioneer species in abandoned garden areas; occasional in
inland forest, often on limestone; often felled, but occasionally
preserved when clearing for new gardens; some species seem well
adapted to atolls; infrequent in home gardens. Timber used in
house construction for rafters, walling frames, flooring and
battens, for wood carving, banana cases, and other purposes; a
major source of firewood sold at urban markets; leaves used to
seal earthen ovens, to parcel seafood to keep it fresh, and to
parcel food before cooking; leaves used medicinally for a range
of maladies and to induce abortions.

59. Mangiferaindica L.
ANACARDIACEAE
"mango"

Probably indigenous to India and Burma; an
early post-European-contact introduction in most areas of the
Pacific; possibly an aboriginal introduction into some areas?
Large, dense, broad-crowned tree, up to 30 m high, with leathery,
lanceolate leaves; pinkish white flowers borne in terminal
panicles; and green to orange or red fruit containing sweet,
juicy, often stringy, yellow-orange to dark orange flesh and a
flat, woody, adhering seed. Common to abundant in garden and
fallow areas and usually protected when clearing fallow
vegetation for new gardens; common as wild, possibly naturalized,
trees in mature fallow forest and along rivers in dry areas;
common in home gardens in rural and urban areas and as a street
or roadside tree; occasionally planted, mainly using improved cultivars,
in regularly-spaced orchards; more common and produces more fruit
in drier or intermediate climatic areas, and produces fewer fruit
in areas of high rainfall. A sacred plant, the leaves being used
in Hindu ceremonies in Fiji; timber occasionally used in light
construction and for firewood; fruit eaten ripe and green, with
ripe fruit occasionally made into jam or chutneys and green fruit
into pickles by Indians in Fiji; an important seasonal cash crop
for local sale in Polynesia, Melanesia, and the larger islands of
Micronesia; exported either as whole ripe fruit, puree, or juice
from Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands, and Hawaii; bark used
medicinally in Fiji and New Guinea.

Indigenous to Indonesia (where now perhaps only
cultivated), New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji in
Melanesia, and the Caroline Islands in Micronesia; probably an
aboriginal introduction into some islands, such as Rotuma and
Samoa, and a recent introduction into other islands. Medium to
tall, single-stemmed, columnar palm, up to 10-20 m or higher,
with denselypacked, large, pinnate fronds; stout, often
spiny petioles; a large, single, terminal inflorescence that is
produced shortly before the tree dies; and subglobose, light
brown fruit with overlapping, snake-like scales and a very hard,
white kernel (endosperm). Grows extensively in freshwater swamps
and along streams and rivers in Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea, and
the Solomon Islands, and in localized concentrations on Viti Levu
in Fiji; planted deliberately in some areas of western Melanesia
and in non-coastal stream valleys, around villages, and home
gardens both in eastern Melanesia and in Vanuatu, Fiji, Rotuma,
and Samoa; occasionally naturalized in apparently nonindigenous
habitats. Important wild and cultivated staple food plant in
Irian Jaya and mainland Papua New Guinea and in localized areas
of island PNG and the Solomon Islands, such as in New Georgia,
Choiseul, and the Langalanga Lagoon area of Malaita, where over a
million people use sago regularly; almost pure starch from the
trunks of immature (pre-flowering) trees is removed through a
laborious process involving felling, splitting, pounding,
washing, kneading, and drying; floral bud often removed to
improve starch yields; numerous cultivars/varieties exist
where trees have been subject to selection and planting; a minor
staple or famine food in most of the islands of Papua New Guinea,
Melanesia, the Solomon Islands, and other areas; starch used in
making pudding or desserts in most areas, including Rotuma and
Samoa, although rarely in Fiji; sago starch a major item in
traditional "Hiri" trade networks of the Gulf of Papua;
sago pith a pig food in some areas; trunk of rotting palms a
source of edible beetle larvae; meristemlheart of palm sold at
urban and roadside markets in Fiji and cooked in curries by
Indians; fronds considered among the best thatching for roofing
and walling, which can last as long as 10 years; seeds of M. amicarum
used in necklaces and handicrafts and for buttons in western
Micronesia.

Indigenous from tropical Asia and Australia to
south-east Polynesia and Hawaii and the Marshall and Gilbert
Islands in Micronesia; probably an aboriginal introduction into
at least the eastern part of its range. Shrub or small tree, up
to 10 m high, with broadly elliptical to obovate, shiny, dark to
pale green leaves; head-like clusters of white flowers; and
fleshy, globose-ovoid, somewhat cone-like, yellowish white,
somewhat gelatinous when ripe, very strong-smelling fruit.
Occasional to common in coastal vegetation, along streams, or on
the inner margins of mangroves, as an understorey plant in open
forests, and in fallow areas, thickets, and waste places; often
an early pioneer in grasslands and abandoned agricultural areas;
often planted or protected in garden areas and common to
occasional in home gardens and villages, especially in
Micronesia. Tree features in Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Tongan
mythology; commonly planted in home gardens; planted around
houses to dispel evil spirits in Nauru; wood used in light
construction, for digging sticks, adze handles, canoe parts,
canoe paddles, stilts, and for firewood; poles used as taboo
markers on reefs in Namoluk; fruit formerly eaten, especially by
older people, but now mostly as an emergency food in Polynesia,
but more widely eaten in Micronesia, often with toddy or sugar;
fruit cooked and mixed with coconut to make pudding in Nauru;
ripe fruit eaten as a stimulant on long sea voyages and used in
love and fishing magic in Kiribati; fruit said to be eaten in the
Mortlock Islands as a male contraceptive; bark and roots provide
red and yellow dyes, respectively; roots mixed with lime to make
red hair dye in Tuvalu; one of the Pacific's most important
medicinal plants, with the roots, bark, leaves, terminal buds,
and fruit used to treat a wide range of maladies; stipules used
to treat scorpion-fish puncture wounds in Pohnpei; leaves fed to
children as a treatment for vitamin-A deficiency in Kiribati;
leaves used in head garlands and as compost in Tuvalu; leaves
used to wrap breadfruit seeds for cooking in earthen ovens in
Namoluk; juice of fruit mixed with spring water and drunk with
kava to counteract unpleasant effects.

Indigenous to north-western India; a pre-World
War II introduction into Fiji and a more recent introduction into
most Pacific Islands; seems to thrive on atolls, where seen
present in Kiribati. Small tree, up to 10 m high, with pinnately
compound leaves; many-flowered, pendulous panicles of fragrant,
white flowers; and long, 3-angled pods bearing winged seeds.
Common on smallholder Indian sugar-cane farms in Fiji and
occasional in rural areas throughout Fiji; common to occasional
in urban and rural home gardens in Fiji and occasional in other
countries where it has been introduced, either by Indians or
Filipino residents or as a vitamin-rich experimental food crop.
Planted as an ornamental, a food tree, and for hedges and living
fencing; bark and leaves used medicinally by Indians in Fiji, the
leaves to treat high blood pressure and diabetes; flowers,
leaves, and immature fruit cooked as a vegetable by Indians in
Fiji; leaves very high in vitamins A and C, iron, and plant
protein.

Possibly indigenous to New Guinea or New
Caledonia; an aboriginal introduction as far east as the Society
Islands and the Marquesas; an early post-European-contact
introduction to Hawaii (either conspecific or related to M.
maclayi F.v. Muell. of New Guinea and the Solomon Islands).
Clump- or stand-forming, giant, perennial herb, 4-5 m tall, with
a robust, often purple-tinged, pseudostem with copious, blood-red
sap; long, dark green shiny leaves; an erect flower stalk bearing
thick, blunt, fleshy, un-seeded or few-seeded fruit that are
orange to orange-red when ripe. Found in a naturalized or
semi-naturalized state in inland mountain or up-valley forests or
old fallow forests; occasional cultivation in gardens, along
rivers, and in home gardens. Pseudostem used medicinally; leaves
used to wrap food for cooking; dry leaves used as cigarette
wrappers; sap used to prepare a purple dye for bark cloth in
Samoa; ripe fruit cooked as a supplementary staple or to make
desserts or puddings, and occasionally sold at urban produce
markets. Two or more cultivars recognized in some areas.

Indigenous to South-East Asia; an early
pre-World War II introduction throughout the Pacific Islands.
Clump- or stand-forming, giant perennial herb, up to 6 m tall,
with large, broad-bladed, broadly feather-shaped, bright green
leaves; and a curved, hanging flower stalk bearing large bunches
of seedless, blunt-tipped, medium-thick-skinned, greenish yellow
fruit that turn bright yellow on ripening. Common banana of
commerce found on all high islands, as an intercrop in shifting
agricultural areas, in small contiguous stands in garden and
fallow areas, and around villages; common in home gardens; often
planted along borders or in lines at intervals among other ground
crops; planted as a monocultural export crop, often under
coconuts or with other trees scattered throughout, or with
short-term crops as intercrops; major plantings often in alluvial
or colluvial soils. Musa (AAA Group) also includes other cultivars,
such as the "Gros Michel" banana, or pisang Ambon
(Indonesian), and the "Dwarf Cavendish banana," or
"nain," both of which were early introductions and more
important in the past, but due to susceptibility to disease are
of limited importance today. Important food and export crop in
many areas of the Pacific, especially in Tonga, Western Samoa,
and the Cook Islands, where bananas are a major export
crop; common local cash crop sold at urban produce markets and
along roadsides; a major intercrop and staple or supplementary
food crop in many areas; pseudostems used medicinally, to wrap or
parcel food, and for small dishes or food platters at feasts;
leaves used to parcel food and for covering earthen ovens; green
fruit cooked as an important staple; ripe fruit eaten raw as a
snack food.

*The nomenclature for the genus Musa is
confused, with most of the following common seedless cultivars
or clones (these do not include M. troglodylarum) being triploid
crosses of the fenile species Musaacuminata Colla
and M. balbisiana Colla. The Latin binomials M. nana
Loureiro, M. sapientum L., and M. paradisiaca L.
are commonly used as follows: M. nana for the "dwarf
Cavendish," and M. sapientum for the taller bananas,
which are generally eaten ripe but which are also cooked
throughout the Pacific as starchy staples, and M. paradisiaca
for the starchier bananas or plantains, which are usually
eaten cooked as a staple starch but occasionally eaten ripe as
fruit. The nomenclature most widely used by agronomists is that
developed by Simmonds, which classifies all cultivars or
clones on the basis of their assumed genetic background, e.g. Musa
ABB Group would be a triploid cross of one M. acuminala group and
two M. balbisiana groups. Both nomenclature systems are
presented here to identify more precisely the clones that are
currently of widespread importance in the Pacific Islands.

Possibly indigenous to southern India; a late
nineteenth-century introduction into the Pacific Islands, in many
cases by missionary societies. Common in Vanuatu, Fiji, most of
Polynesia, and parts of Micronesia, including atolls, where it is
common in home gardens and occasional as an intercrop in rural
garden areas. Clump- or stand-forming, giant perennial herb, up
to 7 m tall, with bronze-green pseudostems (trunks) composed of
leaf sheaths; broad-bladed, broadly feather-shaped, bright green,
spirally arranged leaves; and a curved, hanging inflorescence
turning into a tightly-packed bunch of light yellow, short,
plump, very thin-skinned, seedless fruit. More resistant to
bunchy-top virus and leaf-spot disease than most other Musacultivars. Ripe fruit are an important supplementary or
snack food; immature green fruit cooked as an important
supplementary staple food to taro and breadfruit in Samoa.

Probably indigenous to tropical Asia; an
aboriginal introduction into most of Melanesia and Polynesia; a
recent introduction into Kiribati. Clump- or standforming, giant
perennial herb, up to 5 m tall, with green, often red or
purple-browntinged pseudostems (trunks) composed of leaf sheaths;
broad-bladed, broadly feather-shaped, bright to dark green,
spirally arranged leaves; and a curved, hanging inflorescence
turning into compact bunch of large, cylindrical or slightly
4angled, blunt fruit with thin yellow skin (green when immature)
and soft, pinkish yellow flesh. Common to abundant in rural
garden areas as an intercrop and in home and urban gardens;
common to occasional in banana patches near agricultural areas or
villages. A major intercrop in many areas, such as Fiji and
Tonga, and a traditional intercrop in yam gardens in Tonga;
pseudostems used medicinally, to wrap or parcel food, and for
small dishes or food platters at feasts; leaves used to parcel
food and for covering earthen ovens; green fruit cooked as one of
the most important staples in areas of Melanesia and western
Polynesia; ripe fruit cooked or eaten raw in desserts, often with
coconut milk; an important cash crop sold at urban produce
markets and occasionally exported overseas from Tonga.

Indigenous to tropical Asia; an aboriginal
introduction into most areas of Melanesia, Polynesia, and
Micronesia. Clump- or stand-forming, giant perennial herb, up to
6 m tall, with pale green pseudostems (trunks) composed of leaf
sheaths; pale green leaves; and a curved, hanging inflorescence
bearing large bunches of light green to blue-gray-green, waxy,
thick-skinned, angular fruit with a tapering, blunt tip. Common
to occasional in rural garden areas as an intercrop and
occasional in home gardens; common in border plantings or along
paths and roads on individual agri cultural holdings; a vigorous,
easy-to-grow clone that seems to grow well in drought prone areas
such as the islands off the west coast of Viti Levu, Fiji, and on
some atolls. Important traditional supplementary staple in many
areas of the Pacific; pseudostems used medicinally, to wrap or
parcel food, and for small dishes or food platters at feasts;
leaves are among the most favoured for parcelling food and for
covering earthen ovens, green fruit cooked as one of the most
important staples in areas of Melanesia and western Polynesia;
ripe fruit cooked or eaten raw in desserts, often with coconut
milk and a favoured fruit and ingredient in traditional puddings
(fekei) in Rotuma; a minor cash crop (fruit, pseudostem, and
young leaves) sold at urban produce markets.